Category Archives: Class Actions Lawsuits

Equifax, a large credit reporting agency, recently exposed the personal information of 143 million consumers. The breach was global, affecting not only Americans, but also consumers in the U.K. and Canada. It resulted in the hacking of personal information, including, Social Security numbers, driver license numbers and addresses.

When you enter into a transaction, you trust that the company as well as any credit reporting companies will protect and secure the information you have given them. In the case of Equifax, a company that profits off your personal information without your consent, it has a single job – keep that information confidential. Equifax failed to do its job. As a result, hundreds of millions of people are now susceptible to identify theft, which could destroy their credit and cost them thousands of dollars to fight and to repair. We all now live with that threat.

Rather than step up to the plate, acknowledge its wrong doing, and offer to protect consumers for free, Equifax has tried to trick people into signing away their rights to sue for Equifax’s failure. This is despicable conduct from a company that made millions by leaching off your private information. But you can fight back and it starts by contacting a law firm that will sue Equifax and hold it accountable.

Contact Klaproth Law’s DC and Philadelphia consumer protection lawyers today for a confidential, free consultation. If you have a credit card, then it is likely your information was stolen from Equifax. Hold it accountable. Call today.

The problem with data breaches such as this is that the effects are not immediately felt. The hackers could sell your personal information, such as your social security number, address or health information without you knowing. If a fraudulent credit card or other account is set up with your information, you may not know until it is too late.

The best mechanism for dealing with data breaches has been class actions. A recent class action involving a data breach by Anthem, Inc. settled for $115 million. Target recently agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a data breach class action.

If you or someone you know was a patient of Women’s Health Care Group or Axia Women’s Health, contact Klaproth Law for a free, confidential consultation.

Some of you may have seen John Oliver’s recent story on DaVita on “Last Week Tonight.” The story described DaVita as a dialysis factory that placed profit before its patients. DaVita has also settled lawsuits for paying kickbacks to doctors who refer patients to DaVita. Klaproth Law is currently investigating claims against DaVita and other for-profit dialysis companies. If you or a loved one were referred to DaVita or another dialysis company by a doctor or have received substandard care at DaVita or another dialysis company, contact Klaproth Law today for a free consultation to discuss any claims you may have.

Ethan Haskell, a midlevel content manager at DraftKings, admitted to accidentally releasing data before the start of the third week of N.F.L. games. That same week, Mr. Haskell won $350,000 at DraftKings rival website, FanDuel. Draftkings and FanDuel are the two largest companies in the multibillion-dollar fantasy sports industry, where prize pools can pay up to $2 million to a single winner. Prior to the apparent insider trading controversy that has resulted from Mr. Haskell’s leak and large win, the industry was under fire for being dangerously similar to Vegas-style gambling that is typically banned in the sports world, and currently unregulated – internally or externally.

The problem with Mr. Haskell’s $350,000 win on FanDuel is his access to insider information via his position at DraftKings. As an employee of DraftKings, Mr. Haskell had information on which players were being bet on the most, meaning he knew which players would be the most lucrative bets and giving him a leg-up in the competition. Last week’s data leak creates the same issue, but on a larger scale – it allowed players who created their line-ups after the leak to identify the most lucrative bets, while disadvantaging the players who had already locked in their line-ups. Shockingly, employees are not banned from playing on other websites despite the advantageous knowledge they possess over the public. In fact, Major League Baseball (MLB), a DraftKings investor, said in a prepared statement that it was “surprised to learn that DraftKings allowed its employees to participate in daily fantasy games.” Legal remedies under the statute include but are not limited to treble damages, reasonable attorney’s fees, punitive damages, or an injunction against the use of the unlawful trade practice.

The D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act (CPPA) is a very powerful statute that protects the rights of D.C. consumers. The CPPA was enacted to “assure that a just mechanism exists to remedy all improper trade practices and deter the continuing use of such practices.” D.C. Code § 28-3901(b)(1). Under the CPPA, it is an “unlawful trade practice for a business to, among other things: (1) “misrepresent as to a material fact which has a tendency to mislead”; (2) “fail to state a material fact if such failure tends to mislead”; (3) “represent that goods or services are of particular standard, quality, grade, style, or model, if in fact they are of another”; and/or (4) “represent that goods or services have a source, sponsorship, approval, certification, accessories, characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits, or quantities that they do not have. Under the CPPA, “a person, whether acting for the interests of itself, its members, or the general public, may bring an action” Given the number of consumers that have potentially been impacted, DraftKings and FanDuel have exposure to a class action lawsuit.

If you have participated on the DraftKings or FanDuel website, and feel you have been harmed been misled, defrauded, or a victim as a result of the website’s lack of transparency, please contact Klaproth Law PLLC for a consultation.